TheBanyanTree: Lost Valentines

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I try to stay ahead of the curve and as usual, I bought my Valentines well
before Valentine’s Day.  And I like to buy meaningful cards, not just cards
that are full of cheesy sentimental verses that I would never utter in a
million years, but cards that say “I love you” without all the fluff.

Since I buy my Valentines so far in advance, the cards weren’t all picked
over, and I got good ones for Ray, Asher, Susan, and the boys.

Well, Valentine’s Day came.  And I like to have Ray’s card signed and on the
table so when he comes down for breakfast, he’ll be able to start his day
with a few words of love.  I got the candy on the table, but when I went to
look for the Valentines, I couldn’t find them.

I looked all over the house, but I couldn’t find those darn Valentines.  I
knew I had bought them.  And if I had the candy, where did I put the
Valentines?  The kids were coming over later that day for a Valentines lunch
and I had their candy, too, but no Valentines.  The whole point of Valentine
’s Day in my mind is to exchange cards.  The memory of red heart decorated
paper bags filled with little Valentines from grade school is still very
much with me.

As I hunted for the cards, I tried to keep my temper in check.  I wasn’t
going to blow this all out of proportion.  It wasn’t the end of the world.
I decided I must have left the Valentines at the store.  When the clerks
pack the bags, they usually set the cards aside in their own small bag, and
I probably forgot to take the card bag with me when I left the cashier.  I
still had the candy.  So I recycled a poem I wrote for Ray a few years ago
and set that on his breakfast plate.  The kids got their candy.  And that
was that.

February moves into March.  And we had a wild March day yesterday.  The
morning started off with hard sleet.  Then the temps warmed up and it rained
and rained.  Lightning and thunder exploded overhead.  It was dark and
dreary.  And Ray and I had no plans, no where to go, so we hunkered down in
the house.

Ray was in his office working on his computer.  I was in my office paying
bills, and then I went through and cleaned out the usual accumulation of
papers that at the time I got them I wanted to keep them, but they were
never needed, and finally, they overstayed their welcome and ended up in the
trash.  I had three packets of pictures that needed to be put in albums.  So
I sorted them out and got them into the proper places.

A few months ago, I began using photo file boxes for my negatives, CDs, and
extra pictures instead of just stuffing them into drawers or into the closet
like I was doing.  I actually write the dates and subject matter on the
boxes and envelopes and put them into chronological order.  I’m turning into
this organizational geek in my old age!  My other file boxes were filled, so
I bought a new file box, and I got this one ready to put this new batch of
negatives in.

I opened the box, and there were my long lost Valentines!  I must have
stuffed them in there when I was putting things away and because I have
early stage Alzheimer’s, I forgot where I put them.  I looked at them for a
moment, and yes, they’re still great Valentines.

So Ray will have a Valentine at his breakfast place this morning.  And later
on, when I pick up Asher so we can see the Passion, I’ll drop off the
dinosaur and the robot Valentines for the boys.

Even though February 14 is long past, every day is always a good day to
share a little Valentine love.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

Springtime is the land awakening.  The March winds are the morning yawn.
~Quoted by Lewis Grizzard in Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I Love You